


Just Part of the Job

by FallenFeathers



Series: Discovering Destiny [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: BAMF Merlin (Merlin), Gen, Merlin Saves the Day (Merlin), Oblivious Arthur
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:28:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21895153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FallenFeathers/pseuds/FallenFeathers
Summary: Merlin goes on his first patrol with Arthur.
Relationships: Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: Discovering Destiny [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1577164
Comments: 4
Kudos: 237





	Just Part of the Job

‘What are you doing, Merlin?’

‘I’m readying my horse,’ Merlin replied.

Arthur shook his head. ‘I can see that, but why are you readying a horse for yourself?’

Merlin turned to the Prince with a raised eyebrow. ‘I guess I could walk, but I wouldn’t want to hold up the patrol.’

‘Hold up the patrol,’ Arthur repeated.

The other knights going on the patrol were already mounted and waiting. They were content to talk among themselves for now, but they wouldn’t wait forever. Sir Leon was already glancing at the pair, concerned about the hold up.

Seeing Merlin about to mount up himself, Arthur stopped him. ‘Merlin, you can’t come on the patrol.’

‘Why not?’ Merlin crossed his arms, waiting for a response.

Not expecting to be challenged, Arthur struggled to justify himself. ‘Because I said so.’

‘Good thing I never listen to you then,’ Merlin scoffed.

‘Look, Merlin,’ Arthur tried to reason with his manservant. ‘This isn’t like when we go hunting for a few hours. We’re going on patrol. Which means we’re likely to run into bandits, or worse, and be gone for days.’

Merlin nodded. ‘It’s a good thing I’m coming along then.’ Arthur could only stare as his obstinate servant mounted his horse.

‘Sire,’ Leon’s patience had finally worn out, ‘we should be on our way.’ He looked quizzically at Merlin, but kept his questions to himself.

‘Of course, Sir Leon,’ Arthur was grateful for the interruption, ‘perhaps you can help me convince my manservant to give up this foolish idea of joining us on patrol.’

Leon didn’t express his immediate agreement as Arthur had expected, but took a moment to look over the servant in front of him. Merlin had been working in the castle for a little over a month now and although they rarely interacted, most of Camelot’s residents were familiar with the physicians ward. He had a reputation for being a hard worker who went out of his way to help others, despite being somewhat of a clutz. For all of Arthur’s complaining, Merlin didn’t strike Leon as a fool. He doubted Gaius would suffer a fool for an apprentice long. Looking at the boy now, Leon suspected that Merlin hadn’t decided to join this patrol on a whim.

Turning to the Prince, Leon said, ‘I see no reason your manservant can’t come along.’ Before Arthur could protest, he added, ‘I’m sure he can cook better than any of us and he’ll have his share of chores. Of course, he’ll need to stay out of the way if there’s any fighting.’

Merlin tilted his head toward the senior knight. ‘Of course, Sir Leon.’

Considering the matter settled Leon turned to his Prince, ‘I believe we should be on our way, sire.’

Merlin, Arthur decided, was enjoying himself too much. While Arthur had definitely not been sulking since they left the city, his manservant seemed to be having the time of his life. Merlin had quickly made friends with the group of knights, telling stories that had even the usually stern Leon laughing from where he rode in front. Arthur, who couldn’t hear what was being said from his place at the rear, had a sneaking suspicion that he was the subject of the groups amusement.

Arthur was considering what horrible chores he would have his manservant do once they were back at the castle, when he noticed that Merlin had dropped back to ride alongside him. Arthur scowled.

‘Having fun?’

Merlin grinned wide. ‘Yes, actually. I wasn’t sure I would, I mean you’re always complaining about saddle sores, but it’s nice to get away from the castle for a bit, isn't it?’

He was definitely going to make Merlin muck the stables, Arthur thought. ‘I still don’t understand why you wanted to come along.’

‘It’s my job.’ Merlin said it like it was the most obvious thing.

‘You’re job? Merlin, it’s the knight’s job to go on patrol, not a servants! Surely, you’ve been in Camelot long enough to know that much.’ Arthur shook his head. He knew Merlin was an idiot.

‘I’m not an idiot, Arthur.’ Merlin rolled his eyes. ‘My job is to take care of you, isn’t it? Can’t imagine how you’ve survived this long.’ Something about his tone made Arthur curious, but before he could ask what his manservant was talking about, Merlin continued. ‘Honestly, you can’t even dress yourself in the morning. What would the knights think if you ran after bandits wearing nothing but your sword and under things?’  
Arthur was about to tell Merlin what he thought of him when arrows started falling on the knights ahead of them. He heard Leon shout ‘Bandits!’ and saw armed men running out of the woods.

‘Stay back, Merlin,’ Arthur called as he urged his horse towards the enemy, not bothering to make sure that his command was obeyed.

The Prince of Camelot joined his remaining knights in fighting the bandits that had ambushed them. Amidst the fighting Arthur noted that at least two of their group had fallen, but didn’t have time to check if either were still alive as he fought two men at once. Leon too, was fighting multiple opponents. It seemed that as soon as Arthur had killed one set of attackers, another stepped in to take their places. He quickly realized that they were outnumbered two to one, and while the knights would have been able to hold their own under normal circumstances, the ambush had evened the odds enough to favor their attackers.

‘Leon,’ Arthur called, hoping the senior knight was nearby. ‘Ret-’ Arthur was cut off by something hitting the back of his head before everything went black.

Arthur’s head hurt. That was the first thing he noticed. Slowly he became aware of something tight pulled around his chest. Opening his eyes, Arthur realized he was tied to a tree at the edge of what he realized was the bandits’ camp. Night had fallen while he’d been out, but from what he could tell there didn’t seem to be any other prisoners so either the other knights had been killed or had managed to escape. Arthur hoped it was the latter. If the Leon and the others had managed to escape, then they would know he’d been taken prisoner and mount a rescue. But that didn’t mean Arthur had to wait for them.

The whole bandit camp was asleep. They hadn’t even left someone to guard their prisoner. That, Arthur thought, meant they were either arrogant, amateur, or just plain incompetent. If he was lucky, all three. After a bit of a struggle, Arthur managed to untie the ropes that bound his hands, but his arms were still pinned by the rope holding him to the tree. Whoever had tied him up had known what he was doing. Unarmed as he was, Arthur wasn’t going to be able to escape unless he got really lucky.

‘Arthur?’

Arthur twisted around in the ropes to try and see where the voice had come from. ‘Who’s there? Come out where I can see you!’

‘Will you be quiet?’ A very familiar form slowly emerged from behind a bush. ‘You’re gonna wake the whole camp n then where would be?’

‘Merlin!’ Arthur ignored the look his manservant gave him. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘Oh, I was just out for a stroll and I thought the bandits might be up for a chat.’ Arthur rolled his eyes as Merlin pulled out a dagger and started cutting the ropes tying Arthur to the tree.

‘Where’s Leon? And the other knights?’ Arthur stood slowly. His whole body felt like one giant cramp.

‘No, “thank you, Merlin”, “you saved my life, Merlin”, “don’t know what I would do without you, Merlin?” ‘

‘Shut up, Merlin,’ Arthur hissed. ‘We don’t want to wake up the whole camp.’ Merlin gave him a long suffering look. At least he stopped blabbering, Arthur thought.

‘Sir Leon and the rest of the patrol are fine. A few cuts and bruises, nothing too serious, although Sir Accon probably won’t be able to use his arm properly for a few days.’ Merlin had started leading Arthur away from the camp and into the forest. ‘Once they had you, the bandits didn’t stick around for long. Once their injuries were taken care of, Leon sent two of the knight back to the city to report and bring more men to go after you. Leon wanted to follow your trail right away, but the daylight was pretty much gone by then.’

Arthur was relieved to hear the rest of the patrol had made out alright. He would never admit it, especially to Merlin, but he had worried about the men under his command. However, there was one thing still unaccounted for.

‘Wait, so you mean to tell me that you, who couldn’t find a turtle if it was sitting on your face, tracked the bandits through the forest in the dark, all on your own?’ He’d believe Uther had magic before he believed that.

‘I’m full of hidden talents,’ Merlin replied, clearly pleased with himself.

‘What would you have done if there had been someone on guard?’ Arthur shook his head. Trust his idiot manservant to walk into an enemy camp armed with nothing but a dagger. ‘I’ve seen you fight, Merlin. You wouldn’t have stood a chance.’

Merlin turned to face him, making Arthur pull up short. ‘Just because I can’t wield a sword, doesn’t mean I’m a coward, Arthur.’ Merlin turned back in the direction he had been walking before, leaving Arthur to gape behind him.

Unwilling to let his manservant have the last word, Arthur called out, ‘That doesn’t mean you had a plan!’

It was dawn by the time they reached the small camp the knights had made. Leon, who’d been on watch, was the first to notice them. The rest of the knights woke quickly when they realized their Prince had returned. No one asked how Arthur had escaped, or why Merlin was with him when he’d been at camp when they’d gone to sleep, they were simply relieved he was back.

Arthur decided that they had all been through enough for one patrol and that the reinforcements from Camelot could deal with the bandits. Spirits high, despite their various injuries, they packed up camp and were on the road back to Camelot in record time.

After watching Merlin chastise a knight for not taking care of an injury, Arthur turned to Leon. ‘Perhaps we should allow Merlin to join patrols more often.’

Leon, who had guessed that the manservant had had a hand in Arthur’s miraculous escape, nodded. ‘You know, I think that might be a good idea, sire.’


End file.
